A Day of Touring

Amy, my very good friend from high school and her husband Dan, got into town last night.  Today, we went to the Celestial Seasonings Factory Tour, then headed over to Redstone Meadery for a tour and tasting, followed by lunch at Bru.  It is so good catching up!

Jim's Little Buddy

Look at these two!

Zoey is sporting her new doggie rash guard.  It has UPF 50 sun protection so we don't have to put sunscreen on her!  It is very cute.

Z is absolutely worn out from all the festivities.  She is fast asleep on the couch and there is no waking her.

Smoke Stack Cheesy Corn Bake

We had Christmas with Chris's family tonight and this dish was a hit.

The recipe is credited to Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue in Kansas City, MO. I have had the cheesy corn there before, and it was always very good, but don't remember it enough to make a comparison.

I omitted the ham, doubled the garlic powder and cream cheese (I wonder if the cream cheese amount is a typo? Do 3oz packages exist?) and added 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
4 teaspoons flour
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sharp American cheese, shredded
1 (3 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut up
3 (10 ounce) packages frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
3 ounces diced ham

Directions
Melt butter; stir in flour and garlic powder.
Add milk; cook & stir over medium heat.
Heat until thick and bubbly; stir in cheeses. Cook/stir over low heat until cheeses melt; stir in corn & ham.
Bake in 2 qt casserole for 45 minutes at 350.

Christmas Cuties

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas!

Sounds Like Wisconsin!

The New York Times has a nifty little quiz that will generate your own personal dialect map.  Although I have been accused of being from Canada and Minnesota (how dare they, I'm from Wisconsin!) much more in the past, I still sound a bit like a Yooper, and my word choices designate me a Wisconsinite 8 years after leaving the great state.  It is true then, that you can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl.

McChristmas

We had Christmas with the extended McFamily yesterday afternoon.  Here are all of the cousins.

Golf Cartin'

The preferred mode of transportation on Isla is the Golf Cart.  The locals seemed to drive mopeds.  

Around Isla

Punta Sur: A Walk Around Cliff of the Dawn

Punta Sur Cliff Caves

We climbed up these stairs to find caves.

Punta Sur Sculpture Garden

23 artists from Mexico and around the world made this sculpture garden in 2001.

The Pier

Tortugranja -Turtle Farm

We visited a turtle sanctuary.  There were indoor and outdoor pools with turtles segregated by age from newly hatched to one year old.

The Cemetary

There was a Cemetary next to the hotel.  It was beautiful with all of the colors and statuary.  Many of the above ground crypts looked like little houses with windows.  The houses were filled with little trinkets and things the deceased loved in life.  It was difficult to walk around, the graves were only inches apart in some areas.

Beach Day

Our first full day on Isla was a beach day.  

From the Balcony

The resort was awesome!  It was small and low key which is different than other all inclusives we have stayed at.    No activity pool, or kids club, just relaxation and a constant supply of tropical drinks and cerveza.

There are only around 120 rooms, a buffet, a Thai/sushi restaurant, Satay, which requires reservations, and Cafe del Mar which is an open air restaurant on the beach.  

This is pretty much the entire resort:

A closer view of the pool area and the beach beyond.  The water was incredibly blue.

Privilege Aluxes

We stayed at Privilege Aluxes on the North end of the island.  It is 500 yards away from the ferry dock, and we walked right to it.  We were all upgraded to suites at check-in.  They were sparsely decorated, but very nice with lots of space.  We had multiple ocean views from the balcony and bedroom.

Getting to Isla Mujeres

We left a week ago today on a vacation with Chris's family to Mexico.  Specifically to Isla Mujeres, which is an island off Cancun.  From the airport, we took a van to Puerto Juarez, and then the Ultramar ferry to Isla.  It was a twenty minute ride.  

On top of the ferry in open air seating.  Local musicians play on the ferry for tips and we were serenaded by a guitarist.

The ferry had blue lights all around it.  They looked like spaceships on the water at night.

Dog Vacay

We left Saturday on a little vacation and Zoey took a vacation as well.  We used dogvacay.com to find a place for her to stay for 6 days.  We chose to leave her with Megan D.who gets great reviews and is only a mile away from our house.  

We took Zoey for a meet and greet with Megan and her pooches a month ago.  If you know Zoey, she is a scaredy cat when it comes to other dogs and the day of the meet and great was no exception.  Megan has 3 dogs of her own and was boarding 2 others when we stopped over.  Z was a big baby, and even though she started to loosen up by the time we left, we were nervous about the whole thing.

"She is a dog, and she needs socialization, and she will have a blast", we told ourselves.  And it looks like she did.  These are a couple pictures that Megan sent to us while we were away:

This picture was from Sunday.  Zoey was snuggling up with the other dogs and getting along just fine.  That little yorkie cracks us up.

This was a picture from this morning.  Zoey was playing with the other dogs "like a maniac" - We would not have believed it if we didn't have photo evidence.  You can still see her crazy hair, even through the bluriness, which makes us laugh.

Apparently, she was given the nickname "Chicken" while we were away.  Not sure what to think, but it is fitting at the very least.  And, Megan said Zoey is more than welcome to come back, she was fun to have around and she met some other pet parents who loved her as well.  

Zoey is pooped out and has been sleeping ever since we got her home.  

We aren't sure how often we will use this service, but highly recommend it.  It is cheaper than a kennel and Zoey got lots of attention, got to hang out on the furniture and even sleep in a human bed, just like home, while we were gone.  That wouldn't have been the case if we sent her to the typical kennel.

Fly Time

Not as bad out there as was predicted.

Old Man Winter is On his Way!

It was 50+ degrees a few hours ago.  Now it is only 27, and getting worse.  Up to 7" of snow tomorrow.  Erica is supposed to fly to California in the morning and is not looking forward to the morning drive already.

Now with Rocks

Front Wall

It was a beautiful day, so we got out into the yard.  

We have a bunch of dirt from this and from expanding the front beds.  We think we'll just put it up on Craigslist for free.  If you are nearby and need any or know someone who does, let us know!

Before

The yard sloped down to this gray slate that never stays in place and it is a pain to mow here.

Progress

The plan was to put in a block retaining wall to get rid of the slope.

More Progress

So much better already!  We will be putting rock between the wall and sidewalk and eventually plants come spring.  And, we still need to complete the other side of the yard.  Not sure if that will happen yet this year.

The Birthday Girl

Zoey turned one this week.  She sure is our little buddy.